


The Short List

by Ariella1941



Series: In The Shadow of Empires [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: F/M, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-28
Updated: 2016-03-28
Packaged: 2018-05-29 14:39:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6380308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ariella1941/pseuds/Ariella1941
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>SIS Agent Theron Shan recruits Aryelle Thrace for a mission that will change the galaxy, and their lives, forever.</p><p>Shadow of Revan Era</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Short List

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I used the dialogue from TOR for this, but I’ve never written Theron before so I needed a scaffold to build around, especially since this all inside his head.
> 
> Obviously, this is chronologically before For When You Wake Up. 
> 
> This series is an attempt to chronicle Theron and Aryelle’s relationship, but it seems it's going to be a little slow burn. I promise it will pick up soon though.

I watched T3-G2 amble over to its quarry through the astromech droid’s holocam. The woman we were looking for didn’t exactly stand out in the press of sentient beings aboard Carrick Station. She wore a buff kaftan robe like most Jedi, and her hair was pulled back in a severe knot. It was hard to judge color via holo, but I’d seen the imagery in her file so I knew that hair was a dark red, just as her eyes were an amber brown. To anyone who didn’t recognize her, she was just an attractive woman who happened to be a Jedi. Not an unfamiliar sight in the Fleet these days.

For those of us who did recognize her, she was Jedi Master Aryelle Thrace, Cross of Glory, Crescent of Service. Former Supreme Commander of Jedi Forces on Corellia, Hero of Tython and one of the most powerful Jedi of her generation. Which is how she landed on my short list. My _very_ short list.

T3 began to warble at the Jedi, who turned to face the little droid.

‘You = act casual// T3-G2 recruiting for classified operation!’

I pressed the button that activated the visual pick-up at my end.

“Ah,” I said, sounding casual, “Just the Jedi we were looking for. Nice work T3. I’m with the SIS. We’ve got a very special event coming up and you’re on the guest list.”

She gave me a suspicious look and replied, “What kind of ‘special event’?”

My own voice went hard. “The kind the Empire won’t enjoy. Details when we meet in person.

I cut the connection before she could ask any awkward questions. Like my name, or why Theron Shan, the son of the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, was running with the Strategic Information Service. Oh, we’d get to that at some point, but a crowded space station corridor wasn’t my first choice.

I turned to look at Colonel Darok, “Let’s get this going, shall we?”

The plan was simple and we were hashing out the last of it when Thrace arrived.

“… Blue Squadron approaches Korriban at maximum speed,” Darok noted, more to himself than to me as he studied the holographic display. “.. Bombing commences on signal ‘aurek’. Wave one shuttle follows and secures the LZ…”

I smiled slightly as Master Thrace stepped through the hatch. “…And then wave two comes in. Perfect timing.”

I’d read the Jedi’s SIS file backward and forward. I knew details the Council hadn’t shared with the public, like what happened to her after Master Tol Braga’s failed attempt to capture the Emperor. But a file can’t tell you everything, so I watched her response to what she heard. It was… educational.

Master Thrace carried herself with the serenity that was a Jedi hallmark, but a small turn touched her lips, and something flicked in the back of her eyes.

“Well, I’ve already done Dromund Kaas, so why not invade Korriban and go two for two?” she said in a wry tone of voice. Then she looked at Darok, all pretense of humor gone. “Is the Republic really considering this?”

“Yes,” Darok confirmed, “and your part in the plan is critical, Master Jedi.”

“This is Colonel Darok -– He’s in charge of the op,” I added. “I’m Theron Shan, SIS. We spoke on the holo.”

If something in the back of her eyes flickered before, they practically glowed when I mentioned my name. It wasn’t the usual recognition, I was sure of that, since the glow intensified as her eyes met my own.

I’ve spent a good portion of my life around Jedi, so I know them as well as any non-Force Sensitive can, and I still don’t understand them half the time. But whatever it was Aryelle Thrace saw or sensed caused her to nod, and as that glow faded, she turned to Darok.

“All right, Colonel, take me through your plan.”

“Our objective is to raid the Sith Academy,” the Colonel told her, “Specifically the databanks held inside the Dark Council chambers on the Academy’s upper level.”

“The information on those databanks could win the war. Once the first attack wave clears the landing zone, it will be your job to go in and get them.” I added, returning my focus to the op.

Thrace nodded again. “And once we have the data? What then?”

“You will exfiltrate immediately, and rendezvous back here,” Darok explained. “My associate, Commander Jensyn, will remain behind to collect secondary objectives as time allows.”

“I know with the Emperor’s death, their military is in disarray, but are they really _that_ weak we can risk charging straight in like this?”

Darok shook his head, “Not exactly. We’ll be exploiting a brief gap in their patrols, which is why we have to move immediately.”

I could tell the former Supreme Commander of Jedi Forces, Corellia wasn’t pleased with what she was hearing. And I could understand why. Throwing together an operation this quickly was risky, so it seemed it was up to me to convince her the risk was worth it.

“You don’t need us to tell you how tough this will be,” I said quietly. “The Sith Academy is one of the most secure locations in the entire galaxy. But if we succeed, we could learn more about the Empire’s moves than every SIS operation from the past decade combined.”

“Our forces are ready, Master Jedi,” Darok finished. “Victory for the Republic depends on you.”

That wry twist of the lip returned, and Master Thrace said, “Sometimes I wish the Republic didn’t hold me in such high esteem. I’m in, and may the Force be with us.”

* * *

 

Korriban must be _the_ ugliest planet in the explored galaxy. Red sky, red sand, and the wildlife is as ugly as the scenery. I suppose the craters from the Republic bombing runs didn’t help, but honestly, I doubt anything would ever make Korriban look good.

I glanced at the central holographic table which displayed a three dimensional map of the battle zone, but the majority of my attention was focused on the smaller holo in front of me.

Aryelle Thrace had exchanged her robes for the light armor Jedi favored in combat. She also wore a headset with a discrete holocam, allowing me to follow wave two from its commander’s point of view.

“Theron to wave two,” I said as soon as they hit the ground. “Welcome to Korriban. You’ll need to traverse the Wilds up ahead to reach the Sith Academy. Wave one managed to soften the Imps up a bit but you’ve got your work cut out for you.”

“You’re a master of understatement, Agent Shan.” Thrace told me over her private com channel as I heard the familiar _snap hiss_ of a lightsaber igniting. “Time to move, people,” she said, switching back to wave two’s dedicated com channel.

 If it were anyone else, I might have been inclined to feel pity for the poor bastards who found themselves in wave two’s path. Instead a part of me felt this was a nice down payment for the Jedi Temple and Coruscant during the last war.

I glanced back at the main holo again, assessing the overall situation.

 “Imperial defenders have a barricade up ahead. There’s no time to go around—you’ll have to break through. The Sith Academy isn’t far now. Keep it up.”

I made a valiant attempt to keep the satisfaction from my voice as I spoke, because I knew nothing the Imps had could stop wave two’s advance now.

After the I5-T1 advanced combat droid went down, Master Thrace deactivated the laser fence. I pulled up everything SIS had ever collected on the Academy, which unfortunately wasn’t much.

“The Dark Council chambers are on the upper levels. You’ll need to access the main elevator to reach them,” I told wave two. “We don’t have much intel on the upper level defenses—be ready for anything.”

“Acknowledged, Agent Shan,” Thrace said as she led her team deep into the Sith Academy.

* * *

 

As I watched the door to the Dark Council chamber open, I found myself tensing. This was one of those moments. The kind that need a dark fanfare or something. I don’t know…

“Only the greatest of all Sith are permitted to set foot in these chambers,” a resonant voice came back to me over Thrace’s audio pickup. Her holocam tracked upward revealing a true blood Sith wearing simple red robe over durasteel armor. What was it I was saying about this being one of those moments?

“You profane our entire history by your presence alone,” the Sith continued as he leapt down from a balcony. I ran facial recognition and managed to get a hit: Darth Soverus of the Dark Council.

I was about to tell Thrace to watch herself, but stopped. The woman who killed the Emperor didn’t need my commentary as she faced down a Darth.

“You believe you could breach the chambers of the Dark Council and go unpunished?” Soverus continued with the usual Sith bluster. “That you could steal our great works without challenge?”

Master Thrace chuckled quietly, “Well, there hasn’t been much of a challenge so far,” I watched her twin blades settle into the Ataru form, “shall we?”

“Witticisms are a poor weapon for this fight,” Soverus replied, bringing up his own lightsabers as he rushed her.

I know my way around a vibro-blade. Master Zho saw to that, but nothing prepared me dizzying intensity of a true lightsaber duel as seen through the eyes of a master duelist. The holocam Thrace wore was eye level, so my view was just slightly off center from hers, which made the fight one of the more disorienting things I’ve ever witnessed. And it was over almost as quickly as it began.

Master Thrace dropped the Sith Lord, then gestured to one of the SIS slicers on her team to get to work, when Soverus managed a bloody cough.

“No…the vision…how could the time come so soon?”

The words sent a chill through me as I heard Master Thrace ask, “What vision?” Then her holocam panned up to reveal another Jedi accompanied by two Republic troopers entering the room.

“Commander Jensyn?”

Sovernus saw him too, and somehow managed to find the strength to _stand_ despite the beating Thrace had given him.

“Of course,” Sovernus managed as he stumbled toward Jensyn. “You are not the one who kills me, You’ve only cleared the way for him.” The Sith Lord straightened up, tough bastard, and told Jensyn. “I face my fate gladly, Jedi. The old man was right about me—was he right about you too?”

I wasn’t sure what I expected Jensyn to do, but cutting Sovernus down without the Sith attempting to defend himself was at the bottom of the list.

“A member of the Dark Council could have been a valuable prisoner. Pity,” Jensyn said in a tone of voice I recognized. Hell, it’s a tone of voice I’ve _used_ , but what I couldn’t figure was _why_. Did Jensyn know something about this vision? And if he did, why not report it to SIS or at least the Jedi Council?

Master Thrace seemed to be thinking in the same direction. “The Sith seemed to recognize you, Jensyn—something about a vision? Is there anything you care to share?”

“I apologize, Master, but I’m afraid not,” Jensyn replied, which sent my finely honed paranoia screaming. “But the Dark Council is full of deceivers and madmen—he could have been either. Or both.”

Yeah, and I’ve got some bottom land on Tatooine I can sell you. Just don’t ask what it’s at the bottom of.

“Your part of the mission is done,” he told Thrace, “my team will hold the Academy while I search these chambers along with a few technical specialists. Take the data and head back to the LZ while the path is still clear.”

“Of course,” she replied, “And may the Force be with you, Commander.”

Wave two’s personnel were silent on the hike back to the landing zone. Then Master Thrace’s voice came over her private comlink. 

“Agent Shan?”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

I heard her take a breath then she said: “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“Me too, Master Jedi. Me too.”


End file.
